WFP is looking for Programme Policy Officer – NOC (122501) – Yaounde, Cameroon

Job purpose

This role is found in WFP Cameroon Country Office. The incumbent will report to the Head of Programme. The incumbent will operate with considerable independence in their specialities and may manage a team of national staff. The job purpose is to design and manage programmes that effectively meet food assistance needs or contribute to policy formulation and/or provide technical advice or oversight on programme strategy and implementation. The incumbent will act as the strategic outcome 1 coordinator for the crisis affected populations   including refugees, IDPs, returnees and host population in Cameroon.

Key accountabilities (not all-inclusive)

  • Formulate parts of WFP-wide programme policies in line with both organisational strategy and the practical realities of operating in the field; or translate WFP-wide programme policy into Country level practices, programme guidance and implementation modalities and operations, to ensure a clear and strong connection between HQ, RB and field operations.
  • Develop operational partnerships and maintain established strategic partnerships to identify opportunities for collaborative approaches and initiatives that improve assistance packages and support advocacy work, with special focus on crisis response.
  • Provide technical advice and support to programme activities to clarify ambiguities and ensure that policy and programme operations are consistent with WFP policies and other relevant guidance.
  • Provide technical advice or mobilise technical expertise, on WFP’s programme and policy issues including the choice of objectives, activities, transfer modalities and the deployment and testing of innovative approaches and the development of strategies to support government efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition.
  • Manage or oversee preparation and dissemination of timely analytical and critical programme reports, and a variety of information products or proposals for internal or external use.
  • Advice and support the development of functional training in areas of expertise to enhance the capacity of WFP staff and partner to design and deliver effective food assistance programmes
  • Take the lead in the translation and operationalization of WFP’s programme  strategy into country level practices, including development of functional training to enhance the capacity of WFP staff, government and partners to design and deliver effective crisis response programmes through knowledge exchange, and joint management of activities
  • Actively support and motivate the sub office programme team to achieve results and enable high performance, including through the provision of training and mentoring to enhance the capacity for WFP and partner staff to design and deliver effective food/cash and voucher assistance programmes.
  • Strengthen WFP’s leadership status in forums relating to WFP programmes activities, and facilitate coordination with other UN agencies and NGOs to ensure that WFP activities complement one another and do not overlap, and that synergies for the food assistance responses are created and maintained
  • Ensure that the WFP programme cycle incorporates gender and protection analysis, age and sex-disaggregated data, and gender-transformative activities.
  • Liaise with different WFP units (Programme, Procurement, Administration, Finance, Logistics, ICT and Security, BPU) to ensure coordinated design and implementation of Cash Based Transfers (CBT) and in-kind food transfers
  • In coordination with the CBT officer, provide effective support to Field Offices in SCOPE related activities to strengthen planning and timely implementation of CBT and In-Kind programming through SCOPE
  • Liaise with Monitoring and Evaluation unit and Communication focal points to analyze feedback from beneficiaries and provide appropriate responses
  • In close collaboration with the M&E, contribute to the operational research, outcome monitoring and evidence-building on issues relevant to the crisis response, ensuring documentation of the same in relevant information products for both internal and external use
  • Contribute to the preparation of accurate reporting on CBT General Food Distributions activities that enable informed decision making and consistency of information and assist in compiling monthly statistics
  • Assist in establishing and refining Standard Operating Procedures, internal controls and procedures for effective delivery of assistance
  • Assist in reviewing and monitoring general food distribution interventions, document lessons learnt, advantages and challenges;
  • Undertake field missions to support Field Offices

Coordination and partnerships:

  • Ensure establishment and maintenance of high-level engagement with government counterparts to create an enabling environment for quality technical assistance;
  • Foster productive partnerships with key stakeholders in government and UN agencies, I/NGOs, private sector and academia to ensure multi-sectoral and joint approaches to achieving improved food security and nutrition through social protection, school feeding, rice fortification, maternal child health and nutrition, livelihoods, climate change adaptation and resilience building etc.
  • Advocate for incorporating gender perspectives and social inclusivity in all areas of work, to ensure equal participation of women and men from diverse social groups.
  • Support the identification, development and management of potential partnerships to collaborative working leading to improved food assistance packages.
  • Contribute to building and sustaining effective collaborative relationships with appropriate local government stakeholders in the areas of food security and nutrition policy and plan, social protection, nutrition, school-health and nutrition and livelihoods/resilience building.
  • Represent WFP in different forums specifically in government forums at appropriate levels, food security forums, sharing information that enhance collaboration with government agencies and build support for WFP activities

4Ps Core organisational capabilities

Purpose

  • Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
  • Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
  • Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP’s mission.
  • Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations and is able to communicate this link to others.

People

  • Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
  • Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
  • Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence and develop and improve individual skills.
  • Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Performance

  • Deliver practical, sustainable solutions to achieve WFP’s Mission
  • Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
  • Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
  • Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
  • Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.

Partnership

  • Lead across boundaries to deliver the best for our beneficiaries
  • Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
  • Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
  • Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
  • be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner.

Functional capabilities

  • Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance Demonstrates ability to identify key variables and contextual factors that affect food assistance problems and programmes throughout the lifecycle to inform quality programme design or re-design.
  • Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Voucher) Demonstrates ability to analyze and consolidate quantitative and qualitative information from different sources (e.g., market studies) to inform transfer modality selection and programme development.
  • Broad Knowledge of Specialized areas (i.e. Nutrition, VAM, etc.) Demonstrates the ability to interpret basic data in the context of WFP specialized fields to contribute to technical programme design, implementation and monitoring.
  • Emergency Programming Displays capacity to provide inputs into the development, implementation and realignment of high-quality emergency programmes.
  • Strategic Policy Engagement w/ Government Develops thorough recommendations using multiple inputs (e.g., government counsel, research, own experience) to strengthen national or subnational entities and government owned food and nutrition security programmes.
  • Experience in implementing food security and nutrition programmes, providing input into designing operations and providing input into policy discussions and decisions. General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing the area of work.

 

Qualifications

  • Completion of secondary school education. Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Economics, urban and rural planning, social sciences, agriculture, environmental sciences, agricultural insurance, project management and disaster risk management , Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences or other field relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with 8 additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

Desired working experience for the role

  • Ideally have 5 to 8 years of progressive professional experience in emergency assistance, agricultural insurance and/or diverse aspects of national, bilateral or multilateral food assistance.
  • Has experience working across diverse programme areas, including planning and implementation; experience in leading teams; programme experience at all levels from grassroots to management engagement.
  • Experience in the establishment of partnerships with public and private sector actors; understanding of policy issues
  • Has experience and performed the role of Government Liaison officer at national or provincial/regional level or with specific line ministries.
  • Has proven leadership skills within an organization and with Governments, donors and other partners.
  • Has extensive experience in conducting food security assessments, needs assessments, analysis of data, crafting response plans and recommendations for policy and programme development.
  • Has experience working across the Program portfolio including VAM/Nutrition.
  • Has led a Sub Office or a small country/area office programme team or a component of a country office programme portfolio.
  • Has engaged in policy discussions and provided input into policy decisions.
  • Has general knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing administration

 

Other specific job requirements

  • Must have strong organizational skills with an ability to work independently, as part of a diverse team, work and to take an idea from theory to practice.
  • Have Training and/or experience utilizing computers, including word processing, spreadsheet, project management and other standard WFP software packages and systems
  • Have ability to work systematically, use initiative, good judgement, and to communicate complex matters both orally and in writing; proven ability to work in a team environment and achieve common goals.

Languages

  • Fluent in English (Level C) and French (level C).

 

Postuler ici